Communication apparatus and method for adaptive cooling of antenna elements

ABSTRACT

A communication apparatus that includes a first antenna array having a first plurality of antenna elements, and a first plurality of thermoelectric devices that are arranged on the first plurality of antenna elements of the first antenna array. The communication apparatus further includes a processor that obtains traffic information of a geographical area surrounding a deployed location of the communication apparatus. The processor further controls each of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices to increase or decrease cooling from each of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices based on the obtained traffic information that indicates a number of user equipment (UEs) to be served in the geographical area.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This Patent Application makes reference to, claims priority to, claimsthe benefit of, and is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/321,976, filed on May 17, 2021.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to a communicationapparatus. More specifically, certain embodiments of the disclosurerelate to a communication apparatus and method for adaptive cooling ofantenna elements.

BACKGROUND

Wireless telecommunication in modern times has witnessed advent ofvarious signal transmission techniques and methods, such as use of beamforming and beam steering techniques, for enhancing capacity of radiochannels. In accordance with such techniques, when in operation, anantenna array radiates or receives radio waves in form of beams of radiofrequency (RF) signals, which generates significant amount of heat inunderlying electronic components. For example, circuits and chips of theantenna array generate significant amount of heat that needs to beremoved to keep the circuits and chips at a desired operatingtemperature range for consistent performance and for avoiding loss ofgain due to high temperatures. As electronic components have becomefaster and more powerful, thermal management in a conventionalcommunication apparatuses and systems, has become a technicallychallenging issue. For example, for millimeter wave communicationcapable apparatus, thermal management is a prominent technical challengefor desired performance. Moreover, communication apparatuses, such as arepeater device, a small cell, etc., are mostly deployed outdoors, andthus are subjected to extreme heat, which further aggravates the problemof heating. The conventional approach of using heatsinks and/or fans forcooling such communication systems may result in bulky modules andincrease the maintenance cost in the long run, which is not desirable.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present disclosureas set forth in the remainder of the present application with referenceto the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A communication apparatus and method for adaptive cooling of antennaelements, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection withat least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof,will be more fully understood from the following description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary communication apparatus, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an arrangement of a plurality ofthermoelectric devices on an antenna array, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an arrangement of a plurality ofthermoelectric devices on an antenna array, in accordance with anotherembodiment of the disclosure.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C collectively, is a flowchart that illustrate amethod for adaptive cooling of antenna elements, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain embodiments of the disclosure may be found in a communicationapparatus and method for adaptive cooling of antenna elements. Thecommunication apparatus and method of the present disclosure not onlyimproves performance of the communication apparatus by maintaining atemperature of the antenna arrays in the communication apparatus in aspecified temperature range, but also optimizes power consumption byproviding a capability of adaptive cooling of antenna elements. Thesolution provided in the present disclosure reduces the overallmaintenance cost of the communication apparatus and provides anintelligent and practical cooling mechanism to ensure operationalreliability of the communication apparatus for consistenthigh-performance communication. In the following description, referenceis made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and inwhich is shown, by way of illustration, various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary communication apparatus, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure. With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown ablock diagram 100 of a communication apparatus 102. The communicationapparatus 102 may include a control section 104 and a front-end radiofrequency (RF) section 106. The control section 104 may include aprocessor 108 and a memory 110. The control section 104 may becommunicatively coupled to the front-end RF section 106. The front-endRF section 106 may include front-end RF circuitry 112, a plurality ofantenna arrays, such as a first antenna array 114 and a second antennaarray 116, and a plurality of thermoelectric devices, such as a firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118 and a second plurality ofthermoelectric devices 120. The first antenna array 114 may include afirst plurality of antenna elements 122 and the second antenna array 116may include a second plurality of antenna elements 124.

The communication apparatus 102 includes suitable logic, circuitry, andinterfaces that may be configured to communicate with one or morenetwork nodes, such as one or more base stations and another repeaterdevices and user equipment (UEs). In accordance with an embodiment, thecommunication apparatus 102 may support multiple and a wide range offrequency spectrum, for example, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, and 6G (includingout-of-band frequencies). The communication apparatus 102 is one of anXG-enabled repeater device, an XG-enabled small cell, or an XG-enabledcustomer premise equipment (CPE), where the term “XG” refers to 5G or6G. Other examples of the communication apparatus 102 may include, butis not limited to, a 5G wireless access point, an evolved-universalterrestrial radio access-new radio (NR) dual connectivity (EN-DC)device, a Multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO)-capable repeaterdevice, or a combination thereof.

The processor 108 may be communicatively coupled to the first antennaarray 114 and the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118.Similarly, the processor 108 may also be communicatively coupled to thesecond antenna array 116 and the second plurality of thermoelectricdevices 120. The processor 108 may be configured to execute variousoperations of the communication apparatus 102. The processor 108 may beconfigured to control various components of the front-end RF section106. The communication apparatus 102 may be a programmable device, wherethe processor 108 may execute instructions stored in the memory 110.Example of the implementation of the processor 108 may include, but arenot limited to an embedded processor, a microcontroller, a specializeddigital signal processor (DSP), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing(RISC) processor, an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, and/orother processors, or state machines.

The memory 110 may be configured store values, such as determinedoperational states of the first plurality of antenna elements and thesecond plurality of antenna elements of the first antenna array and thesecond antenna array, respectively. Examples of the implementation ofthe memory 110 may include, but not limited to, a random access memory(RAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a static random accessmemory (SRAM), a processor cache, a thyristor random access memory(T-RAM), a zero-capacitor random access memory (Z-RAM), a read onlymemory (ROM), a hard disk drive (HDD), a secure digital (SD) card, aflash drive, cache memory, and/or other non-volatile memory. It is to beunderstood by a person having ordinary skill in the art that the controlsection 104 may further include one or more other components, such as ananalog to digital converter (ADC), a digital to analog (DAC) converter,a cellular modem, and the like, known in the art, which are omitted forbrevity.

The front-end RF circuitry 112 includes receiver circuitry andtransmitter circuitry. The receiver circuitry is coupled to the one ormore receiving antenna arrays, such as one of the first antenna array114 or the second antenna array 116 or may be a part of the receiverchain. The transmitter circuitry may be coupled to the one or moretransmitting antenna arrays, such as the first antenna array 114 or thesecond antenna array 116 in an implementation. The front-end RFcircuitry 112 supports millimeter wave (mmWave) communication as wellcommunication at a sub 6 gigahertz (GHz) frequency.

Each of the first antenna array 114 and the second antenna array 116 maybe one of an XG phased-array antenna panel, an XG-enabled antennachipset, an XG-enabled patch antenna array, or an XG-enabledservo-driven antenna array, where the “XG” refers to 5G or 6G. The firstantenna array 114 has a first side that represents a RF circuitry andchip side and a second side that represents a radiating side of thefirst plurality of antenna elements 122. Similarly, the second antennaarray 116 has a first side that represents a RF circuitry and chip sideand a second side that represents a radiating side of the secondplurality of antenna elements 124.

The first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 are arranged on thefirst plurality of antenna elements 122 of the first antenna array 114such that each thermoelectric device covers a different subset ofantenna elements of the first plurality of antenna elements 122.Similarly, the second plurality of thermoelectric devices 120 arearranged on the second plurality of antenna elements 124 of the secondantenna array 116 such that each thermoelectric device covers adifferent subset of antenna elements of the second plurality of antennaelements 124. Each of the thermoelectric devices, such as the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118 and the second plurality ofthermoelectric devices 120, has a cooling side and a heat dissipationside, and two connection leads. The cooling side each of the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118 is arranged on the first side(i.e., chip side) of the first antenna array 114. Similarly, the coolingside each of the second plurality of thermoelectric devices 120 isarranged on the first side (i.e., chip side) of the second antenna array116. In an implementation, each of the first plurality of thermoelectricdevices 118 and the second plurality of thermoelectric devices 120 maybe a Peltier device. Each of the first plurality of thermoelectricdevices 118 and the second plurality of thermoelectric devices 120 donot have any moving parts and circulating liquid, which furthercontributes to reducing the maintenance cost of the communicationapparatus 102. Such thermoelectric devices manifest a very long life,invulnerability to leaks, and are scalable, lightweight, small in sizeand even flexible in shape. It is to be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art that other thermoelectric semiconductor devices orthermoelectric coolers may be used without limiting the scope of thedisclosure.

In operation, the processor 108 may be configured to determine anoperational state of the first plurality of antenna elements 122. Theoperational state indicates a power state or a performance state of thefirst plurality of antenna elements 122. The processor 108 may becommunicatively coupled to the front-end RF section 106 and may detectthe power state or the performance state of the first plurality ofantenna elements 122 from the front-end RF circuitry 112.

In an implementation, when in operation, the processor 108 may beconfigured to partition the first plurality of antenna elements 122 intoa plurality of subsets of antenna elements (i.e., a plurality ofspatially separated antenna sub-arrays). The partition may be donedynamically and may be a logical partition. In one example, the firstantenna array 114 may comprise 256 antenna elements and has 16 rows and16 columns. Thus, each of the plurality of subsets of antenna elementsmay comprise 64 elements each. The first antenna array 114 may beconfigured to generate one or more beams of RF signals using thepartitions. In another example, the first antenna array 114 includes aplurality of chips arranged to form the first plurality of antennaelements 122 (e.g., one or more subsets of four Tx/Rx chips and onemixer chip, where each Tx/Rx chip may include X-number of antennaelements). In such a case, each of the one or more subsets of four Tx/Rxchips and one mixer chip may correspond to one subset of the pluralityof subsets of antenna elements. Moreover, the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices 118 are arranged on the first plurality ofantenna elements 122 of the first antenna array 114 such that eachthermoelectric device covers a different subset of antenna elements ofthe first plurality of antenna elements 122. In one example, onethermoelectric device of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices118 may cover four Tx/Rx chips and a mixer chip. In another example, onethermoelectric device of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices118 may cover one chip individually. In yet another example, thedistribution of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 on thefirst plurality of antenna elements 122 may be based on anidentification of one or more radiation surplus regions and radiationdeficient regions in an antenna array. For example, in case of receiverantenna array, the central portion of the first antenna array 114 may bea radiation surplus region and other peripheral areas of the firstantenna array 114 may be radiation deficient regions. Thus, in suchcases, one or more thermoelectric devices may be arranged on theradiation surplus region, whereas either none or a comparatively lessnumber of thermoelectric devices may be arranged on the radiationdeficient regions.

In accordance with an embodiment, the distribution of the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118 on the first plurality ofantenna elements 122 may be based on a type of antenna array and itsdeployment preferences. For example, if the first antenna array 114 isto be used as a service side antenna array that faces a plurality ofUEs, the number of first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 usedmay be higher as compared to a case where the first antenna array 114 isa source side antenna array that faces one or more base stations. Thisis because if it is known that a location of communication apparatus 102where it is to be deployed is fixed with respect to the base station,then it can be derived that there will be less changes in beamformingbetween the communication apparatus 102 and the one or more basestations resulting in less power consumption and heat generation, and inturn low cooling requirements on the source side antenna array. However,if the communication apparatus 102 is a repeater device installed on amoving object, such as a vehicle, then in such a case, the source sideantenna array that faces one or more base stations may requirecontinuous changes in beamforming patterns, resulting in heat generationby the underlying electronic components (e.g., circuitry and chips) ofthe first antenna array 114. Thus, in such cases, the number of firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118 on the first antenna array 114designated as the source side antenna array may be higher anddistribution may be dense based on expected exposure of the firstplurality of antenna elements 122 to beams of RF signals of the firstantenna array 114. On the contrary, the first antenna array 114 whenarranged to face an interior of the vehicle, then either none or acomparatively less number of thermoelectric devices may be used to savepower.

The processor 108 may be further configured to control each of the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118 based on the determinedoperational state of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 suchthat an adaptive cooling is applied on different subsets of antennaelements of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 to maintain atemperature of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 in aspecified temperature range. Not all the first plurality of antennaelements 122 may be operational at a given point in time, or moreheating may be generated at some subsets of antenna elements as comparedto other subsets of the first plurality of antenna elements 122. Thus,the information of the operational state of each of plurality of subsetsof antenna elements may be leveraged to control, for example, activatecorresponding thermoelectric devices of only such subsets of antennaelements that require comparatively more cooling. This results in anoverall adaptive cooling system with an on-demand performance. When thechips and circuitry associated with such subsets of antenna elementsthat require comparatively more cooling, are subjected to cooling by useof corresponding thermoelectric devices arranged on such subsets ofantenna elements, a desired operating temperature range is maintained,which results in improved (i.e., optimum) performance and avoids anypotential loss of gain due to high temperatures.

In accordance with an embodiment, the determination of the operationalstate of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 may comprisedetermining which antenna elements of the first plurality of antennaelements 122 are in an activated state and which are in a deactivatedstate. In such a case, the control of each of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices 118 may comprise executing an activation or adeactivation of each of first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 insynchronization with the activated state or deactivated state of thedifferent subsets of antenna elements of the first plurality of antennaelements 122. In an example, a first thermoelectric device may cover afirst subset of antenna elements, a second thermoelectric device maycover a second subset of antenna elements, a third thermoelectric devicemay cover a third subset of antenna elements, and a fourththermoelectric device may cover a fourth subset of antenna elements ofthe first plurality of antenna elements 122. The coverage of thedifferent subsets of antenna elements implies an arrangement where thecooling side of each thermoelectric device is placed on thecorresponding subset of antenna elements such that when input voltage issupplied to a given thermoelectric device, a temperature difference isgenerated across the two sides of the given thermoelectric device. Thecooling side of the given thermoelectric device passes the cooling tothe circuitry and chips associated with the corresponding subset ofantenna elements to maintain the temperature of the corresponding subsetof antenna elements in the specified temperature range. The heatdissipation side of the given thermoelectric device dissipates the heatoutside the communication apparatus. In some embodiments, for the heatdissipation, a modular heat sink may be employed, which may have a sizethat is less than a defined threshold size. In this case, for instance,the first subset of antenna elements and the second subset of antennaelements may be determined to be in the activated state, whereas thethird and fourth subset of antenna elements may be determined to be inthe deactivated state. In such a case, the processor 108 may beconfigured to activate the first thermoelectric device and the secondthermoelectric device and voltage may be supplied to provide cooling tothe first subset of antenna elements and the second subset of antennaelements, respectively. However, the third thermoelectric device and thefourth thermoelectric device may not be activated. In an implementation,the activation of the first thermoelectric device and the secondthermoelectric device may be in a real-time or near real-time as soon asthe first subset of antenna elements and the second subset of antennaelements starts its operation. In another implementation, the activationof the first thermoelectric device and the second thermoelectric devicemay be executed in a defined delayed time, for example, after a certaintime has elapsed from the start of operation of the first subset ofantenna elements and the second subset of antenna elements. The defineddelayed time may be pre-set at the communication apparatus 102 or may becalculated dynamically.

In accordance with an embodiment, the communication apparatus 102 maycomprise an array of temperature sensors to measure temperature of eachchip (i.e. each antenna chip) of the plurality of chips of an antennaarray, such as the first antenna array 114. Accordingly, the control ofeach of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 may comprisechanging a voltage input to cause a corresponding change in atemperature of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 suchthat the adaptive cooling is applied on different subsets of antennaelements of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 based on themeasured temperature from the array of temperature sensors.

In accordance with another embodiment, the array of temperature sensorsmay not be used, and the determination of the operational state of thefirst plurality of antenna elements 122 may comprise determining aperformance state of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 of thefirst antenna array 114. In such a case, the control of each of thefirst plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 may comprise changing avoltage input to cause a corresponding change in a temperature of thefirst plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 such that the adaptivecooling is applied on different subsets of antenna elements of the firstplurality of antenna elements 122. Based on experimentation, it isobserved that when the temperature changes (e.g. high heat generated),the output power of an antenna, such as the first antenna array 114 alsochanges, and the overall performance of wireless communication by suchantenna, such as the first antenna array 114, is affected. Thus, theperformance state of the communication apparatus 102 based oncommunication by the first antenna array 114 may be detected. In otherwords, a performance drop, such as a gain drop, a connectivity drop, avoice drop, a power output drop, or any sudden drops in performance maybe attributed to the high heat generated. Such performance state may beused as a feedback to change the voltage input to one or morethermoelectric devices of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices118 to cause desired cooling from the one or more thermoelectric devicesto reduce fluctuation of temperature changes and maintain thetemperature of the chips and circuitry associated with the firstplurality of antenna elements 122 within the desired temperature rangein order to optimize performance and prevent any potential loss of gainand other performance drops due to high temperatures.

In another implementation, the control of each of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices 118 may comprise substantially equalizingtemperature associated with the first plurality of antenna elements 122such that the performance state of the first plurality of antennaelements 122 of the first antenna array 114 is substantially equalized.There may be variation in power consumption of chips in the firstantenna array 114, and as result there may be a difference in heatgeneration from the different chips. The processor 108 may be furtherconfigured to detect such variations based on a change in theperformance state of such chips as compared to other chips of the firstantenna array 114. By substantially equalizing the temperatureassociated with the first plurality of antenna elements 122, theperformance of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 issubstantially equalized. If the equalization is maintained within arange of about 0-10 percent difference, it can be considered assubstantially equalizing as it does not generate any noticeable effecton performance. For example, by substantially equalizing the temperatureassociated with the first plurality of antenna elements 122, anequalization of gain across different regions of the first antenna array114 may be achieved.

In an implementation, the first antenna array 114 may be a receiverantenna array, and thus by substantially equalizing the temperatureassociated with the first plurality of antenna elements 122, adistribution of gain may be further equalized across the first pluralityof antenna elements 122 to achieve optimal power output from thereceived beam of input RF signals at different scan angles for the firstantenna array 114. Moreover, by substantially equalizing the temperatureassociated with the first plurality of antenna elements 122, a desiredtransmit/receive power may be consistently maintained.

In accordance with an embodiment, the processor 108 may be furtherconfigured to obtain traffic information of a geographical areasurrounding a deployed location of the communication apparatus 102. Insuch a case, the control of each of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices 118 further comprises increasing or decreasingcooling from each of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118based on the obtained traffic information that indicates a number ofuser equipment (UEs) to be served in the geographical area. As thenumber of UEs to be serviced increases, the power consumption alsoincreases at the first antenna array 114 to keep the first antenna array114 functional to generate one or more beams. Thus, more voltage inputmay be supplied to some thermoelectric devices to provide more coolingto some chips covering corresponding subsets of antenna elements, wheremore cooling is required as per demand in such situations. The use ofthe traffic information as a parameter to decide the amount of coolingneeded in advance prevents any unwanted deterioration of performance ofthe first antenna array 114.

In accordance with an embodiment, the processor 108 may be furtherconfigured to obtain in a real time or a near real time one or more of:a weather condition, a position information of one or more UEs to beserved by the first antenna array 114, a two-dimensional (2D) orthree-dimensional (3D) position information of the communicationapparatus 102. In such a case, the control of each of the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118 may further comprise increasingor decreasing cooling from each of the first plurality of thermoelectricdevices 118 based on one or more of the obtained weather condition, theposition information of one or more UEs to be served by the firstantenna array 114, and the 2D or 3D position information of thecommunication apparatus 102. The communication apparatus 102 may bedeployed outdoors, and thus may be subjected to extreme heat due toexposure to sunlight on a given day, which further increases the problemof heating during operation. Thus, in some implementations, theparameter of weather condition is also employed to decide how muchcooling is needed to maintain a temperature of the first plurality ofantenna elements 122 in the specified temperature range, for example,20-30 degree Celsius. Moreover, the position of each of one or more UEsto be served by the first antenna array 114 with respect to the positionof the communication apparatus 102 indicates a corresponding distance ofthe one or more UEs from the communication apparatus 102. Thus, a beamshape (i.e., a radiation pattern) used to serve a UE may have a specificneed of power consumption and heating of certain antenna elements basedon a direction of the beam to be transmitted to service the UE. Thus,circuitry and chips connected with such antenna elements may need morecooling, and thus more input voltage may be supplied to thosethermoelectric devices that covers such antenna elements to generatemore cooling as compared to other thermoelectric devices of the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118.

In accordance with an embodiment, like the first antenna array 114, theprocessor 108 may be further configured to determine an operationalstate of the second plurality of antenna elements 124, and control eachof the second plurality of thermoelectric devices 120 based on thedetermined operational state of the first plurality of antenna elements122 as well as the second plurality of antenna elements 124.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first antenna array 114 may be aservice side antenna array that faces a plurality of UEs and the secondantenna array 116 may be a source side antenna array that faces one ormore base stations. In such a case, the second plurality ofthermoelectric devices 120 may be less than the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices 118. In a case where the position ofcommunication apparatus 102 with respect to the base station do notchange, it can be derived that there will be comparatively less changesin beamforming resulting in less power consumption and heat generationat the source side antenna array as compared to the service side antennaarray. This results in lower cooling needs at the source side antennaarray as compared to the service side antenna array. Thus, in suchcases, the second plurality of thermoelectric devices 120 may be lessthan the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118. In accordancewith another embodiment, both the first antenna array 114 and the secondantenna array 116 may be service side antenna arrays that faces aplurality of UEs or another communication apparatus 102. In such a case,the second plurality of thermoelectric devices 120 may be equal to thefirst plurality of thermoelectric devices 118.

In an exemplary implementation, the communication apparatus 102 may beinstalled in a vehicle as a repeater device. The first antenna array 114and the second antenna array 116 may be mounted at different locationsof the vehicle. In such a case, one of the first antenna array 114 andthe second antenna array 116 may be configured to be activated ordeactivated based on a visibility status to a network node, such as abase station or a roadside unit, when the vehicle in in motion. In sucha case, the processor 108 may be further configured to controlactivation or a deactivation of each of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices 118 and the second plurality of thermoelectricdevices 120 in accordance with the activation or deactivation of thefirst antenna array 114 or the second antenna array 116 based on thevisibility status.

For the sake of brevity, the aforementioned implementations (andembodiments) are described with two antenna arrays in the communicationapparatus 102. However, it is to be understood by a person of ordinaryskill in the art that such implementations and embodiments can beextended to cover cases of N antenna arrays and M thermoelectricdevices, without limiting the scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an arrangement of a plurality ofthermoelectric devices on an antenna array, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 2 is explained in conjunction withelements from FIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 2, there is shown anantenna array 202 and a plurality of thermoelectric devices, such as afirst thermoelectric device 204A, a second thermoelectric device 204B, athird thermoelectric device 204C, and a fourth thermoelectric device204D.

In this embodiment, the antenna array 202 corresponds to the firstantenna array 114 and the second antenna array 116. Similarly, theplurality of thermoelectric devices 204 corresponds to the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118 and the second plurality ofthermoelectric devices 120. In FIG. 2, each of the plurality ofthermoelectric devices has a cooling side 206A and a heat dissipationside 206B, as shown. The antenna array 202 has a first side 208A thatrepresents a radio frequency (RF) circuitry and chip side and a secondside 208B that represents a radiating side of a plurality of antennaelements of the antenna array 202. The cooling side 206A each of theplurality of thermoelectric devices is arranged on the first side 208Aof the antenna array. The plurality of thermoelectric devices 204 may bearranged on the plurality of antenna elements of the antenna array 202such that each thermoelectric device covers a different subset ofantenna elements of the plurality of antenna elements of the antennaarray 202.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an arrangement of a plurality ofthermoelectric devices on an antenna array, in accordance with anotherembodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 3 is explained in conjunction withelements from FIGS. 1 and 2. With reference to FIG. 3, there is shown anantenna array 302 and a plurality of thermoelectric devices 304A, 304B,304C, 304D, 304E, and 304F. There is further shown a motherboard 306that supports a plurality of chips arranged on the first side 302A ofthe antenna array 302 and connected with different antenna elements of aplurality of antenna elements of the antenna array 302 that radiatesfrom a second side that is opposite to the first side 302A.

In accordance with an embodiment, the cooling side of the plurality ofthermoelectric devices 304A, 304B, 304C, 304D, 304E, and 304F may bearranged on the antenna array 302 such that each thermoelectric devicecovers a different subset of antenna elements (i.e., covers one or morechips associated with each subset of antenna elements) of the antennaarray 302 from the first side 302A (i.e. the chips and circuitry side).It is to be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art thatselection of number and size of the thermoelectric device may depend onits application or requirement, without limiting the scope of thedisclosure. For example, in an exemplary implementation, onethermoelectric device may cover four chips. In another implementation,one thermoelectric device may cover 8-10 Tx/Rx chips including mixerchips. In yet another implementation, only two or four thermoelectricdevices may be used to cover one antenna array.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C collectively is a flowchart that illustrates amethod for adaptive cooling of antenna elements, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure. FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are explained inconjunction with elements from FIGS. 1 to 3. With reference to FIGS. 4Ato 4C, there is shown a flowchart 400 comprising exemplary operations402 through 408. The operations of the method depicted in the flowchart400 may be implemented in the communication apparatus 102 (FIG. 1).

At 402, an operational state of the first plurality of antenna elements122 may be determined. The determination of the operational state of thefirst plurality of antenna elements 122 devices may further comprise oneor more sub-operations corresponding to operations 402A and 402F.

At 402A, it may be determined which antenna elements of the firstplurality of antenna elements 122 are in an activated state and whichare in a deactivated state. At 402B, a performance state of the firstplurality of antenna elements 122 of the first antenna array 114, may bedetermined. At 402C, traffic information may be obtained of ageographical area surrounding a deployed location of the communicationapparatus. At 402D, an operational state of the first plurality ofantenna elements 122 may be proactively predicted based on the obtainedtraffic information. At 402E, it may be obtained in a real time or anear real time one or more of: a weather condition, a positioninformation of one or more UEs to be served by the first antenna array114, a two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) positioninformation of the communication apparatus 102. At 402F, an operationalstate of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 may be proactivelypredicted based on the obtained weather condition, the positioninformation of one or more UEs to be served by the first antenna array114, and the 2D or 3D position information of the communicationapparatus 102.

At 404, each of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 may becontrolled based on the determined operational state of the firstplurality of antenna elements 122 such that an adaptive cooling isapplied on different subsets of antenna elements of the first pluralityof antenna elements 122 to maintain a temperature of the first pluralityof antenna elements 122 in a specified temperature range. The control ofeach of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 furthercomprises one or more sub-operations corresponding to operations 404A to404E.

At 404A, an activation or a deactivation of each of first plurality ofthermoelectric devices may be executed in synchronization with theactivated state or deactivated state of the different subsets of antennaelements of the first plurality of antenna elements 122. At 404B, avoltage input may be changed to cause a corresponding change in atemperature of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 suchthat the adaptive cooling is applied on different subsets of antennaelements of the first plurality of antenna elements 122. At 404C,temperature associated with the first plurality of antenna elements 122may be substantially equalized such that the performance state of thefirst plurality of antenna elements 122 of the first antenna array 114is also substantially equalized. At 404D, cooling from each of the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118 may be increased or decreasedbased on the obtained traffic information that indicates a number ofuser equipment (UEs) to be served in the geographical area. At 404E,cooling from each of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118may be increased or decreased based on one or more of: the obtainedweather condition, the position information of one or more UEs to beserved by the first antenna array 114, and the 2D or 3D positioninformation of the communication apparatus 102.

At 406, an operational state of the second plurality of antenna elements124 may be determined. At 408, each of the second plurality ofthermoelectric devices 120 may be controlled based on the determinedoperational state of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 as wellas the second plurality of antenna elements 124.

It is known that conventional approach of using heatsinks and/or fansfor cooling existing communication apparatus, such as a repeater device,may result in bulky modules which make it impractical to useservo-driven antenna arrays for optimum performance. To alleviate theproblem, the intelligent use of the thermoelectric devices for adaptivecooling based on operational state of antenna elements of a givenantenna array improves the reliability of communication, such as mmWavecommunication, to meet data communication in multi-gigabit data rate, bysignificantly reducing performance breakdowns due to heating of chipsand driver circuits associated with such antenna elements. The use ofthe thermoelectric devices for adaptive cooling based on operationalstate of antenna elements results in a temperature difference of up to,for example, 25 degree Celsius approximately.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer implementedinstructions that when executed by a computer causes a communicationapparatus 102 to execute operations, the operations comprisingdetermining an operational state of the first plurality of antennaelements 122 of the first antenna array 114; and controlling each of thefirst plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 based on the determinedoperational state of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 suchthat an adaptive cooling is applied on different subsets of antennaelements of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 to maintain atemperature of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 in aspecified temperature range.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may include a communicationapparatus 102, for example, a repeater device, a small cell, or an edgerepeater device. The communication apparatus 102 comprises the firstantenna array 114 that comprises a first plurality of antenna elements122. The communication apparatus 102 further comprises the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118 that may be arranged on thefirst plurality of antenna elements 122 of the first antenna array 114such that each thermoelectric device covers a different subset ofantenna elements of the first plurality of antenna elements 122. Thecommunication apparatus 102 further comprises a processor 108communicatively coupled to the first antenna array 114 and the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118, wherein the processor 108 maybe configured to: determine an operational state of the first pluralityof antenna elements 122; and control each of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices 118 based on the determined operational state ofthe first plurality of antenna elements 122 such that an adaptivecooling may be applied on different subsets of antenna elements of thefirst plurality of antenna elements 122 to maintain a temperature of thefirst plurality of antenna elements 122 in a specified temperaturerange.

In accordance with an embodiment, each of the thermoelectric devices hasthe cooling side 206A and the heat dissipation side 206B, and whereinthe first antenna array 114 has the first side 208A that represents aradio frequency (RF) circuitry and chip side and the second side 208Bthat represents a radiating side of the first plurality of antennaelements 122, and wherein the cooling side 206A each of thethermoelectric device may be arranged on the first side 208A of thefirst antenna array 114.

In accordance with an embodiment, the determination of the operationalstate of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 comprisesdetermining which antenna elements of the first plurality of antennaelements 122 may be in an activated state and which may be in adeactivated state. The control of each of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices 118 comprises executing an activation or adeactivation of each of first plurality of thermoelectric devices insynchronization with the activated state or deactivated state of thedifferent subsets of antenna elements of the first plurality of antennaelements 122.

In accordance with an embodiment, the determination of the operationalstate of the first plurality of antenna elements 122 comprisesdetermining a performance state of the first plurality of antennaelements 122 of the first antenna array 114. The control of each of thefirst plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 comprises changing avoltage input to cause a corresponding change in a temperature outputfrom each of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 such thatthe adaptive cooling may be applied on different subsets of antennaelements of the first plurality of antenna elements 122. In accordancewith an embodiment, the control of each of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices 118 comprises substantially equalizingtemperature associated with the first plurality of antenna elements 122such that the performance state of the first plurality of antennaelements 122 of the first antenna array 114 may be substantiallyequalized.

In accordance with an embodiment, the processor 108 may be furtherconfigured to obtain traffic information of a geographical areasurrounding a deployed location of the communication apparatus. Thecontrol of each of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118further comprises increasing or decreasing cooling from each of thefirst plurality of thermoelectric devices 118 based on the obtainedtraffic information that indicates a number of user equipment (UEs) tobe served in the geographical area.

In accordance with an embodiment, the processor 108 may be furtherconfigured to obtain in a real time or a near real time one or more of aweather condition, a position information of one or more UEs to beserved by the first antenna array 114, a two-dimensional (2D) orthree-dimensional (3D) position information of the communicationapparatus 102. The control of each of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices 118 further comprises increasing or decreasingcooling from each of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118based on one or more of the obtained weather condition, the positioninformation of one or more UEs to be served by the first antenna array114, and the 2D or 3D position information of the communicationapparatus 102.

In accordance with an embodiment, the communication apparatus 102further comprises the second antenna array 116 that comprises the secondplurality of antenna elements 124. The communication apparatus 102further comprises the second plurality of thermoelectric devices 120that may be arranged on the second plurality of antenna elements 124 ofthe second antenna array 116 such that each thermoelectric device coversa different subset of antenna elements of the second plurality ofantenna elements 124. The processor 108 may be communicatively coupledto the second antenna array 116 and the second plurality ofthermoelectric devices 120. The processor 108 may be further configuredto determine an operational state of the second plurality of antennaelements 124, and control each of the second plurality of thermoelectricdevices 120 based on the determined operational state of the firstplurality of antenna elements 122 as well as the second plurality ofantenna elements 124.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first antenna array 114 may be aservice side antenna array that faces a plurality of UEs and the secondantenna array 116 may be a source side antenna array that faces one ormore base stations, where the second plurality of thermoelectric devices120 may be less than the first plurality of thermoelectric devices 118.In accordance with another embodiment, both the first antenna array 114and the second antenna array 116 may be service side antenna arrays thatfaces a plurality of UEs or another communication apparatus, wherein thesecond plurality of thermoelectric devices 120 may be equal to the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices 118.

In accordance with an embodiment, the communication apparatus 102 may beone of: an XG-enabled repeater device, an XG-enabled small cell, or anXG-enabled customer premise equipment (CPE), and wherein the firstantenna array 114 and the second antenna array 116 may be one of: an XGphased-array antenna panel, an XG-enabled antenna chipset, an XG-enabledpatch antenna array, and wherein the XG refers to 5G or 6G.

While various embodiments described in the present disclosure have beendescribed above, it should be understood that they have been presentedby way of example, and not limitation. It is to be understood thatvarious changes in form and detail can be made therein without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In addition to using hardware(e.g., within or coupled to a central processing unit (“CPU”),microprocessor, micro controller, digital signal processor 108,processor 108 core, system on chip (“SOC”) or any other device),implementations may also be embodied in software (e.g. computer readablecode, program code, and/or instructions disposed in any form, such assource, object or machine language) disposed for example in anon-transitory computer-readable medium configured to store thesoftware. Such software can enable, for example, the function,fabrication, modeling, simulation, description and/or testing of theapparatus and methods describe herein. For example, this can beaccomplished through the use of general program languages (e.g., C,C++), hardware description languages (HDL) including Verilog HDL, VHDL,and so on, or other available programs. Such software can be disposed inany known non-transitory computer-readable medium, such assemiconductor, magnetic disc, or optical disc (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD-ROM,etc.). The software can also be disposed as computer data embodied in anon-transitory computer-readable transmission medium (e.g., solid statememory any other non-transitory medium including digital, optical,analog-based medium, such as removable storage media). Embodiments ofthe present disclosure may include methods of providing the apparatusdescribed herein by providing software describing the apparatus andsubsequently transmitting the software as a computer data signal over acommunication network including the internet and intranets.

It is to be further understood that the system described herein may beincluded in a semiconductor intellectual property core, such as amicroprocessor 108 core (e.g., embodied in HDL) and transformed tohardware in the production of integrated circuits. Additionally, thesystem described herein may be embodied as a combination of hardware andsoftware. Thus, the present disclosure should not be limited by any ofthe above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

1. A communication apparatus, comprising: a first antenna array thatcomprises a first plurality of antenna elements; a first plurality ofthermoelectric devices that are arranged on the first plurality ofantenna elements of the first antenna array; and a processorcommunicatively coupled to the first antenna array and the firstplurality of thermoelectric devices, wherein the processor is configuredto: obtain traffic information of a geographical area surrounding adeployed location of the communication apparatus; and control each ofthe first plurality of thermoelectric devices to increase or decreasecooling from each of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices basedon the obtained traffic information that indicates a number of userequipment (UEs) to be served in the geographical area.
 2. Thecommunication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor isfurther configured to proactively predict an operational state of thefirst plurality of antenna elements of the first antenna array based onthe obtained traffic information, wherein the control of each of thefirst plurality of thermoelectric devices is further based on thepredicted operational state of the first plurality of antenna elements.3. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theprocessor is further configured to determine a performance state of thefirst plurality of antenna elements of the first antenna array based onwireless communication by the first antenna array, wherein thedetermined performance state comprises an indication of at least one of:a performance drop, a gain drop, a connectivity drop, a voice drop, apower output drop associated with the first antenna array.
 4. Thecommunication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processor isfurther configured to utilize the determined performance state of thefirst plurality of antenna elements of the first antenna array as afeedback to change a voltage input to cause a corresponding change in atemperature of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices such thatthe temperature of radio frequency (RF) circuitry and chips associatedwith the first plurality of antenna elements is maintained within anoperational temperature range.
 5. The communication apparatus accordingto claim 3, wherein the control of each of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices comprises equalizing temperature associated withthe first plurality of antenna elements such that the performance stateof the first plurality of antenna elements of the first antenna array isequalized.
 6. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe first plurality of thermoelectric devices are arranged on the firstplurality of antenna elements of the first antenna array such that eachthermoelectric device covers a different subset of antenna elements ofthe first plurality of antenna elements.
 7. The communication apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein a distribution of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices on the first plurality of antenna elements isbased on an identification of one or more radiation surplus regions andone or more radiation deficient regions in the first antenna array. 8.The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a distributionof the first plurality of thermoelectric devices on the first pluralityof antenna elements is based on a type of antenna array and a deploymentpreference of the first antenna array.
 9. The communication apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a second antenna array, whereinthe first antenna array and the second antenna array are mounted atdifferent locations of a vehicle.
 10. The communication apparatusaccording to claim 9, further comprising a second plurality ofthermoelectric devices that are arranged on a second plurality ofantenna elements of the second antenna array.
 11. The communicationapparatus according to claim 10, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to activate or deactivate one of the first antenna array andthe second antenna array based on a visibility status of the firstantenna array and the second antenna array to a network node, whereinthe network node comprises at least one of: a base station or aroad-side unit (RSU).
 12. The communication apparatus according to claim11, wherein the processor is further configured to control an activationor a deactivation of each of the first plurality of thermoelectricdevices or the second plurality of thermoelectric devices in accordancewith the activation or the deactivation of the first antenna array orthe second antenna array based on the visibility status.
 13. Thecommunication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein eachthermoelectric device of the first plurality of thermoelectric devicesand the second plurality of thermoelectric devices has a cooling sideand a heat dissipation side, and wherein each of the first antenna arrayand the second antenna array has a first side that represents a radiofrequency (RF) circuitry and chip side and a second side that representsa radiating side of a corresponding antenna array, and wherein thecooling side of each thermoelectric device is arranged on the first sideof each of the first antenna array and the second antenna array.
 14. Amethod, comprising: in a communication apparatus: obtaining trafficinformation of a geographical area surrounding a deployed location ofthe communication apparatus; and controlling each of a first pluralityof thermoelectric devices to increase or decrease cooling from each ofthe first plurality of thermoelectric devices based on the obtainedtraffic information that indicates a number of user equipment (UEs) tobe served in the geographical area, wherein the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices are arranged on a first plurality of antennaelements of a first antenna array of the communication apparatus. 15.The method according to claim 14, further comprising proactivelypredicting an operational state of the first plurality of antennaelements of the first antenna array based on the obtained trafficinformation, wherein the control of each of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices is further based on the predicted operationalstate of the first plurality of antenna elements to maintain atemperature of the first plurality of antenna elements in an operationaltemperature range of the first plurality of antenna elements.
 16. Themethod according to claim 14, further comprising determining aperformance state of the first plurality of antenna elements of thefirst antenna array based on wireless communication by the first antennaarray, wherein the determined performance state comprises an indicationof at least one of: a performance drop, a gain drop, a connectivitydrop, a voice drop, a power output drop associated with the firstantenna array.
 17. The method according to claim 16, further comprisingutilizing the determined performance state of the first plurality ofantenna elements of the first antenna array as a feedback to change avoltage input to cause a corresponding change in a temperature of thefirst plurality of thermoelectric devices such that the temperature ofradio frequency (RF) circuitry and chips associated with the firstplurality of antenna elements is maintained within an operationaltemperature range.
 18. The method according to claim 14, wherein thecontrol of each of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices furthercomprises equalizing temperature associated with the first plurality ofantenna elements such that a performance state of the first plurality ofantenna elements of the first antenna array is approximately equalized.19. A communication apparatus, comprising: a first antenna array thatcomprises a first plurality of antenna elements; a first plurality ofthermoelectric devices that are arranged on the first plurality ofantenna elements of the first antenna array such that eachthermoelectric device covers a different subset of antenna elements ofthe first plurality of antenna elements; and a processor communicativelycoupled to the first antenna array and the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices, wherein the processor is configured to:determine a performance state of the first plurality of antenna elementsof the first antenna array based on wireless communication by the firstantenna array, wherein the determined performance state comprises anindication of at least one of: a performance drop, a gain drop, aconnectivity drop, a voice drop, a power output drop associated with thefirst antenna array; and utilize the determined performance state of thefirst plurality of antenna elements of the first antenna array as afeedback to change a voltage input to cause a corresponding change in atemperature of the first plurality of thermoelectric devices such thatthe temperature of radio frequency (RF) circuitry and chips associatedwith the first plurality of antenna elements is maintained within anoperational temperature range.
 20. A communication apparatus,comprising: a first antenna array and a second antenna array, whereinthe first antenna array and the second antenna array are mounted atdifferent locations of a vehicle; a first plurality of thermoelectricdevices that are arranged on a first plurality of antenna elements ofthe first antenna array; a second plurality of thermoelectric devicesthat are arranged on a second plurality of antenna elements of thesecond antenna array; and a processor configured to: activate ordeactivate one of the first antenna array and the second antenna arraybased on a visibility status of the first antenna array and the secondantenna array to a network node, wherein the network node comprises atleast one of: a base station or a road-side unit (RSU); and control anactivation or a deactivation of each of the first plurality ofthermoelectric devices or the second plurality of thermoelectric devicesin accordance with the activation or the deactivation of the firstantenna array or the second antenna array based on the visibilitystatus.